Rex "Hourman" Tyler's page

Hourman rushes in, looking as disheveled as a caped crusader can. "Sorry I'm late, My alarm clock didn't go off. What did I miss?" After getting caught up, he tells the other JSA'ers about Dan O'Dell and the warning phone call from the demon.

Hourman has been hanging back, assessing the situation, and decides the battle is too iffy to risk gathering evidence from the fire. So he goes to the firepole and breaks off a long, 8-ft. piece of it and comes at the demon, wielding it like a quarterstaff.

Sorry, work has been on my back about internet access lately. Does Hourman have any powers left?

"Batter up!" Hourman steps up behind the demon and swings for the fences. First a demon warns us and now one is trying to kill us, he thinks. There must be some sort of war in hell.

"Flash, I'll break down the door, you run inside and check things out. I'll follow as fast as I can," says Hourman, walking up to the entrance.

"Okay, okay..." Flame Farmer says, visibly sweating. "Look, it wasn't my idea. I had my orders, see? All those hotels...we were told to set the fires. The plan was to draw at least one of you hero-types where my sniper could get ya, but plan B was just to set a lot of hotel fires in the hopes that some of you were stayin' at one of 'em."

Hourman steps up. "Why does Mr. X want to get one of us hero types badly enough that he'd burn down half the town just on the chance he might get one of us? His note said we'd interfered with his plans too often but I don't think any of us have ever heard of him before."

"Well, I'll be..." one of the police officers says by Hourman. "Flame Farmer, ya say? We've been after him for so long now...if these boys set this fire for Flame Farmer, we'll be puttin' them away and throwin' away the key, sur'n we will now!"

((Is Sandman driving to the Hotel Chelsea? Will Hourman be running to the Hotel Chelsea at normal speed or expending a power slot to run faster? He's starting to run low for the night...))

Normal speed.

Hourman motions to Sandman to follow the Flash, then drags the sick mobster over to the unconscious mobster and calls to the police. "These two are henchman of the Flame Farmer, lock 'em up, boys."

After the police take the two prisoners, Hourman races off to the Chelsea.

"C'mon, Sandman, let's see if the Flash had any better luck."

"Hourman, you watch this one," he indicates the incalcitrant one. "Sandman, you want to come with me, or work over Mr. Tough-Guy?"

Flash leads the sick (or wily!) mobster across the street to a nearby diner or someplace which would have a public toilet. He's on the watch for subterfuge.

Hourman picks up the mobster by his lapels and slams him against the wall. "Look, buddy, we know all about Mr. X and the Flame Farmer. You're just a small fish in a big puddle. But if you answer some questions for us, we'll make sure you get out of this alive." Each sentence is punctuated by another slam against the wall. (Not hard enought to break him, just enough to hurt him.)

Meanwhile, on the top floor, the remaining hoodlum notices that Hourman is distracted and tries to bolt for the exit ((free attack on his back side if you post before tomorrow...)).

Hourman finally (!) notices the hoodlum trying to escape and pounces, spinning him around and socking him in the jaw. Once the hood is dispatched, Hourman will check the control panel.

The mini-tornado Flash whips up snuffs the wall of fire across the landing in about 30 seconds. However, the heat and the stress have taken their toll on the landing platform's supports and with the loud wrenching of metal the whole platform bends, pitching Flash to the railing and knocking him over it -- it's five stories down to the bottom of the shaft if he doesn't catch hold of something or Hourman catches hold of him!

Hourman sees the Flash going over the railing and makes a grab for the speedster. If he can't grab the Flash, Hourman will go over the railing and try to position himself below Flash to take the impact of the fall.

"I'll take care of the controls, Sandy, you start evacuating people!" Hourman, trusting to his invulnerability, starts up the stairs to the tenth floor.

Sorry, busy weekend.

Hourman tells the Flash and Sandman about Dan O'Dell and the warning from the demons.

"Maybe Fate or Spectre can help us out with the demons, most of my foes are scientists or goons. Have either of you run into demons before?"

"It should be safe now!" Flash calls up to Hourman. "I don't think I can do much to slow the fall, the bottom is still about 5 feet below me. If I tried to cushion the fall with air, I would be trapped down at the bottom along with the elevator car."

"Alright, stand back, here it comes!" shouts Hourman as he releases the cable and jumps back from the elevator.

I've decided that Hourman activated the power Raise Car to hold up the elevator car. I'm willing to be vetoed and re-write the scene if anyone had a different plan in mind for what to do if the cable snapped.

~Scott/Editor

Sounds like a plan. I was thinking of having Hourman go to the floor below and fly up the shaft lifting up the car then I realized Hourman can't fly. :)

Hourman checks his watch and takes another Miraclo pill then follows the Flash into the burning building. "Flash, once we finish this rescue, I have something I have to tell you."

Hourman: The frightened man, looking more awkward than frightened now, said, "I'm Dan O'Dell. You've...probably never heard of me. I'm a telephone occultist...able to speak to demons via telephone. Earlier today, I was told that the Flash was going to be in danger tonight. Not seeing what I could do about it, I called the police and gave them that information as a tip. I thought that would be the end of it, but I received a call from a demon later telling me not to trust the police. Not an hour after that, the police came to my apartment asking for me. I heard them while I was down the hall. I panicked and ran. They spotted me and gave chase. That's...and that's when I ran into you. I don't suppose you believe me. It all sounds incredible, but I assure you it's true." He does have an earnest look about him.

"Demons would be more Fate's style than mine but why would they be tipping you off about the Flash? Why would they care what happens to him? And how and where exactly is the Flash in danger?"

Hourman: "Do you hear that...?" Don asks as you both hear a fire truck driving past with its siren blazing on the next street over.

"Come on, we'll see where that truck is going and then we'll get to the bottom of this."

Hourman: Hourman's prisoner starts to calm down as Hourman leaves him alone.

"I'm sorry," the man apologizes. "It's been a rough night." He turns, as if about to walk away, then turns back again. "Wait, do you know the man called The Flash?"

"Yes, of course I know the Flash. What does that have to do with why you're running from the cops in the middle of the night?"

((Hourman is now 3' from the man, easily in melee range))

The police car, a black and white roadster, turns the corner and blares its siren one more time before coming to a stop 12' in front of Hourman. The frightened man feebly tries to duck behind Hourman and hide. "Please! There's no time to explain! Just don't trust the police!"

Hourman, deciding he can always turn the man in later if he has to, grabs the man and runs out the alley past the police. {Race the Bullet} Taking the man to a nearby industrial park, Hourman stops and says, "Alright, now that we're away from the police, who are you and why are you afraid of the police?"

"I know you!" the frightened man says. "You're Hourman! Hourman, whatever you do--" he stops and spins around when he hears a police siren from around the street corner, "Don't turn me over to the police!"

Hourman steps closer to the man. "Why would I turn you over to the police? What have you done?"

For Hourman, this is what it's all about. The adrenaline rush of running across rooftops and leaping from building to building. It's like track back in college, but on another level -- literally.

By 10 pm, Hourman is halfway across town to Wilson Lederman's neighborhood (the prisoner in the charcoal suit from earlier), when he spies something unusual in the street two stories below him. A man is running down a quiet side street. Which, in and of itself, would not be so unusual without the palpable sense of fear evident in the man. He glances behind his shoulder near-constantly and seems to be looking for a place to hide. He is casually dressed, in his mid-30s, and has a swarthy look to him, though it is hard to place his ethnicity.

Hourman flies down to land in front of the running man. "Going somewhere, citizen?"

After a quick dinner, Hourman will make sure he has a supply of Miraclo pills and head out on patrol.

"Sandman, calling the D.A. sounds like a good idea. I'll see if I can round up some of my Minute Men to patrol our prisoner's neighborhood. Maybe we can catch some of the Flame Farmer's men in action and pick up a lead that way."
Hourman finds out from the prisoner where his family lives, then leaves to contact Thorndyke and Jimmy Martin.

"I think it's safe to say that our answer to Mr. X will be a resounding No! Atom, keep pressure on that wound, I'll go find out what Flash and Sandman have found and let them know what the contents of the note," Hourman says on his way out the door.

Hourman picks up the note and knife, examining both for clues.

Hourman reaches into his belt pouch and swallows a Miraclo pill. Feeling the familiar rush of energy, he pulls the closed door off its hinges and rushes into the room across the hall.

I updated Hourman's powers.

"Hi, Flash, Sandy, good to see you again," says Hourman as he enters the room. "Did I tell you about the time Dr. Snegg tried to steal a whole train?" He breaks off the story to greet each new arrival, then starts up again.